Every since they opened last year, Fraîche in Culver City is popular. Some people think it's even one of those "it" spots, winning over the unlikely types who have hardcore Eastside pride or are apt to opt out on spending their paycheck for mid to high priced food experiences. Yet, everyone seems to be going to check it out at least once. And when you do, make sure to check out their excellent cocktails and......

LAist Featured Photos pool contributor kristi.nicole shares with us a shot from a recent six course tasting menu meal at K-Zo in Culver City. Over on Yelp, K-Zo scores high with fans of high-end sushi, with one Yelper promising that if you hand yourself over to their Mr. Keizo for an omakase meal (where the sushi chef serves you what he wishes based on what's best on hand) "the master will take you on......

The idea for Pangea Day was inspired by filmmaker Jehane Noujaim's acceptance speech after winning the TED Prize at the 2006 TED Conference. The global event begins this Saturday at 11:00 a.m. PDT with events in six cities including Los Angeles (Sony Pictures in Culver City) and numerous satellite gatherings. In addition to 24 short films, the four-hour event will include live music and speakers. Max Lugavere and Jason Silva, the founding hosts/producers of Current......

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/Huge_iPod_Turned_into_Porta_Party_Kissing_Booth'; A couple weeks ago during LA Art Weekend, the Japanese Maid Cafe, Royal/T, opened to great success in Culver City (if you haven't seen these photos, definitely check it out, then go drink tea there and check out the art). Within the exhibit was one installation that was extremely cool, except you had to have an iPod or iPhone on you to make it work. Luckily, we had one... and then......

Last night Father's Office II in Culver City* Los Angeles finally opened to the thirsty and hungry, but mostly thirsty, masses. It was supposed to be a soft opening but word got out and the bar/restaurant filled up right quick. A line formed outside the front door but patrons who finally made it in said the wait wasn't too bad, just about 15 minutes.......

Photo by delera-photos via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr There were a lot of earthy things to do this weekend, but the true Earth Day is tomorrow. And after that, Earth Day-like events continue through May 10th with one of the best Earth Day festivals around -- WorldFest in Encino. Tomorrow and as previously mentioned, Wilshire Blvd. is being closed down between Western and Harvard. Since it's also Car Free Day, the event abut......

Hey, there, beer fans! The word is out on the street, Father's Office II in Culver City finally opens its doors tonight! You heard me. Rumors say 5pm. Our coverage of the preview party probably left you wanting more but starting tonight you get to see it for yourself, taste the gastropub fare goodness for yourself, choose from what looks to be a gazillion beers on tap and guzzle, I mean, savor, for yourself.......

Bettina Korek and her For Your Art crew did it again -- another fantastic art opening slammed with people. Actually, they have been sizzlin' hot all weekend with the first LA Art Weekend (with more events today), which has highlighted some of the city's newest gallery spaces including last night's opening of Royal/T, the nation's first Japanese "Maid Cafe," and the pop up Storefront for Architecture and Art on Friday. Royal/T is a shop, an......

Photo by delara-photos via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr DID U C OPRAH 2DAY? OMG SO GR8! OOPS G2G, PPL R B-TING SUM GUY UP TTYL! Pasadena ain't your ashtray. So tonight their city council meets to vote on a massive smoking ban that will prohibit puffers to indulge in their habit in almost any public place. Hey, what's the latest on the upcoming SAG/AFTRA contract talks? Deadline Hollywood Daily has an......

As much as we like to give love to LA's many veg-heads, once in a while, you've got to give equal billing to good old meat. "Snout to tail" cuisine, which encourages the use of every single little bit of the animal, has long been a way for us omnivores to practice a more ethical approach to meat-eating. Now you can enjoy a four-course "Head to Tail" menu, along with a lecture on the......

Guyton\Walker. Untitled, 2008. Stretched vinyl on billboard. Courtesy of the artists and LAXART, Los Angeles. In lieu of commercial street spam, this Culver City billboard near LAXART now hosts the art of New York-based artists Wade Guyton and Kelley Walker. After a two-year hiatus, the two resume their collaboration in a surname self-title exhibit which also includes silk-screened wall paintings inside the gallery. Official art talk from the gallery: "By appropriating a seemingly random......

For the last ten years, state representatives from Los Angeles have dominated the role of Speaker of the Assembly, including Mayor Villaraigosa, LA City Council Herb Wesson and Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle. Today, Karen Bass, the assemblywoman who represents neighborhoods from West LA to Culver City to Baldwin Hills, had enough votes to become Speaker of the Assembly up in Sacramento. The job of speaker is to be the leader of the California State Assembly,......

Santee Village Apartments | Photo by atomicshakespeares via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr It's not the same thrill as being singled out as a draft pick when it's the police who want you: "An arrest warrant has been issued by the Irvine Police Department for St. Louis Cardinals utilityman Scott Spiezio on six charges stemming from a Dec. 30 incident." Police in Burbank are investigating the mysterious death of 47-year-old Glen Giles,......

FILM* Charlie Chaplin's legendary Modern Times is on the big screen this afternoon at the Silent Movie Theatre. The film "marks the final screen appearance of his beloved and iconic Tramp. It’s also one of Chaplin’s most thematically and stylistically audacious films." 4:00 p.m. // The Silent Movie Theatre // 611 N Fairfax Ave // $12 WIN AN OSCAR! Oh, okay, fine, you probably aren't nominated for one this year (don't worry, your time will......

I like to think of myself as a person who does what they say they’re going to do when they say they’re going to do it. So it was that, two days after spending the afternoon in the bathroom with the stomach flu, I found myself walking into Ugo: An Italian Café to partake of their DineLA menu. I’ve been there before, and generally Ugo is a solid though not particularly creative Italian option......

Zoom in, zoom out, click on the icons and click on the lines for more info and times of closures | View Larger Map Last week Wednesday night, February 6, 2007, Veteran Officer Randy Simmons was killed upon entering the home of a gunman who reported to have shot three family members. This was the first casualty in the 41-year history of the LAPD’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit. Funeral arrangements for Simmons are......

Love is in the air tonight. / Photo by lush.i.ous via flickr. Ahhh luuuurve is in the air. Need some last-minute ideas for the Hallmark-inspired holiday? Yes, tonight’s Valentine’s Day and here are a few different ideas that will beat flowers and candy any day. ART To coincide with the opening of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM) at LACMA this weekend, “Women in the City” selected to exhibit four prominent contemporary artists (Cindy......

V.J. Foster and Steven M. Porter star in Carnage, A Comedy at the Actors' Gang. | Photo by Jean-Louis Darville. Carnage, A Comedy, currently running at the Actor’s Gang Theatre in Culver City, was written more than 20 years ago by Adam Simon and Tim Robbins (yes, that Tim Robbins), but its focus on the fluidity of truth, freedom and democracy still resonates today. It’s an excellent work that challenges current political and religious......

Writers Guild members picket in front of Sony Pictures in Culver City, California, November 2007 At nearly 3am last night, WGA members received an email announcing that "we have a tentative deal." I'm told that the language of the deal could have been done earlier, but that the AMPTP attempted some last minute shenanigans - most reprehensible in the fact that it made me use the word "shenanigans." The WGA East will be holding......

Have you had enough of $5 coffee? $99 burgers? $125 martinis? I know I am -- doesn't anybody in this city want to find the cheapest drinks, meals, and booze? Los Angeles Magazine comes through this month with a feature on great deals and bargain finds on everything from martinis to furniture to underpants. We went straight for the food section, of course -- and here are our top food bargain picks from the......

What are your favorite breakfast spots in Los Angeles? Who's got the best cup of coffee? The yummiest pancakes? The thickest slabs of bacon? Who's overrated and who's overlooked? We're determined to find out -- so wake up with us, won't you? Enjoy L.A.'s Best Breakfasts!!!...

It was an inauspicious start for L.A.'s first Restaurant Week: when first we arrived at Ford's Filling Station for lunch (the first stop on our two-week tour of the event's featured restaurants), the rain was falling, the wind was blowing, and tables were not being filled. But thanks to a brief respite from the storm, and to a hearty, delicious prix-fixe menu, the day redeemed itself. Ford's Filling Station is offering a $22 lunch......

Move a strip club into a neighborhood full of single family homes and you're looking for a big freak out. Skin is set to open at 3388 S. Robertson Blvd. (that's where Robertson, Exposition and Venice all meet) pending a police permit hearing set for tonight. A well organized South Robertson community effort has delayed the opening of the new local amenity at the border of Los Angeles and Culver City. "SKIN may have been......

TALK What’s up with all the development in Downtown LA? What’s it going to look like in 5, 10 or 20 years? Moderated by Christopher Hawthorne, Los Angeles Times architecture critic, ALOUD at the Central Library features panelists Lauren Bon, Tom Gilmore, Martha Welborne and James Von Klemperer, AIA to discuss all things Downtown and development. 7 PM // ALOUD at the Central Library: Mark Taper Auditorium // 631 Fifth & Flower streets, LA......

It's the biggest dance club night in Los Angeles over at The Vanguard and tonight is a special one -- GIANT is having its eighth-anniversary party. Join Steve Aoki, Glycerin and others along it 1500 clubbers. Metromix has the low down. And speaking of anniversaries, the monthly Dragstrip 66 at Safari Sam's is celebrating its Quinceanera! 15 years ago, January, L.A.'s queer/mixed underground have been eagerly descending upon the club night every second saturday......

No direct link, but ABC7 has a large red breaking news banner at the top reporting that "Fox Hills Mall in Culver City is locked down while police search for a stolen car suspect." The leaning tower of Pisa. Check. The leaning tower of Hollywood? Double check. The Sunset + Vine building appears to be leaning. Timber! Donda West, mother of Kanye, who passed away after plastic surgery at a local hospital died from......

Sure, you could always stay in and watch reruns of [insert name of your favorite show here], but why bother when you have these things happening tonight to get you through hump day. WORDS The West LA Chapter of the Sierra Club hosts a lecture by UCLA Professor David Haake who’ll focus on the question, “Do green choices make financial sense?” The evening will also offer steps on how you can reduce your carbon......

Happy New Year from LAist and your brand new Food Editor! I've arrived home refreshed from a fantastic vacation in the Philly/New Jersey area, and now I'm revved up and ready for the New Food Year. It was difficult to leave Philadelphia and its fabulous dining options behind (cheesesteaks are only the tip of the iceberg), but nothing beats Los Angeles for its range of offerings. Here's my wish list for places to go,......

New Year's Day, most in LA seemed to be up in Pasadena watching either the Rose Parade or the Rose Bowl, or getting over their New Year's Eve hangover at home watching TV. Why do I think that? Because the roads were EMPTY! It seemed that no one was on the roads. My goal was to head out with a friend, with cameras in hand and hit the roads and drive around LA on......

The LA Weekly's Jonathan Gold names his "Top Ten Dishes of 2007" and curious palates all over the Southland take note. His picks include the porcetta at Brentwood's Vicenti (a rotisserie-cooked piece of pork where the "loin and belly are wrapped into a spiral, seasoned with fennel, and spit-roasted to a crackling, licorice-y succulence"), Donut Man's Strawberry Donut, and My Taco's Barbacoa (lamb), which we fell in love with too, when we checked out Garvanza.......